WASHINGTON -- We Americans like to think of ourselves as a forgiving people, willing to turn the other cheek to offense in the interest of getting on with life. Although the most conservative of us rail against "amnesty" in its many forms, we actually practice it repeatedly. The Senate immigration reform bill, passed by all the Democrats and 14 Republicans, advocates forgiveness toward foreigners entering and staying here illegally. The bill offers them an eventual path to citizenship, as well as...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki offered an amnesty on Wednesday to tribes who fought the government, but excluded those who had "killed and shed blood. " "I announce the offer of the amnesty pardon for all tribes and for all people who were involved in acting against state to return to their sanity, and they are welcome. We will not exclude anyone except those who killed and shed blood," Maliki said in his weekly televised address. ...

MOSCOW, July 9 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament last week approved an amnesty which could free thousands of entrepreneurs jailed for business crimes. For a related story, click here: Here are some details on the amnesty: - It applies to 27 crimes including the following articles from Russia's Criminal Code: 159.1 - credit fraud 159.4 - fraud in the sphere of entrepreneurial activities 176 - obtaining credit illegally 177 - evading repaying debt 196...

Though upset about the Bulls' unexpected early exit from the playoffs, a confident and buoyant Carlos Boozer said management didn't tell him which direction it will take with him this offseason and lauded his professionalism in a reduced role. "They told me how much they appreciated and respected me for giving everything I have for the team," Boozer said by phone Wednesday. "They said they were proud of how I handled my own personal adversity. " The Bulls can use the amnesty...

To hear opponents tell it, you don't want to be standing along the U.S. border when an immigration reform bill becomes law. Millions of foreigners who were previously content in their native lands will hear about it, pack a bag and storm across the U.S. border, trampling anyone unlucky enough to be in the way. The reason, we are told, is a change that Republicans have previously rejected but Democrats and Latino groups see as indispensable: a...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities should investigate the country's powerful spy agency for human rights abuses against journalists following a spate of attacks on leading reporters, London-based Amnesty International said in a report published on Wednesday. The report sheds light on the threat it says the country's media faces, including from political parties, Islamist insurgents and its own intelligence agencies. At least 34 journalists...

WASHINGTON — Immigration reform is coming. Let's get it right. What counts as getting it wrong? The 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli Act, signed by President Ronald Reagan. It granted amnesty to the then 3 million illegal immigrants and promised border enforcement. Amnesty came. Enforcement never did. Reagan was swindled. Americans are a generous people. They don't want 11 million souls living in fear among them. They would willingly, indeed overwhelmingly, support amnesty — as long as it is...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal would weaken the foundations of "genuine and lasting" peace after a decade-long civil war if it gave amnesties for serious crimes committed during the conflict, the top United Nations human rights official said. Nepal, home to Mount Everest and birthplace of Lord Buddha, is still recovering from a brutal conflict that ended in 2006 in which more than 16,000 died, hundreds disappeared and thousands were wounded or displaced. Last week, the...

YANGON, July 3 (Reuters) - Myanmar's president has freed 46 people in a general amnesty, state media reported on Tuesday, and at least three were prominent political prisoners according to a pro-democracy activist. In addition to the 46 Myanmar nationals, authorities freed 34 foreigners under the amnesty, state media said. Human rights activist Ko Ko Gyi, who was himself only released in January, told Reuters that three of those freed, Than Zaw, Ko...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's government faced calls on Friday from human rights and victims' groups not to grant amnesties over atrocities committed during the country's civil war for which nobody has been brought to justice. Wedged between China and India, the nascent republic suffered a decade-long insurgency that pitted Maoist guerrillas against the army. More than 16,000 people died, hundreds disappeared and thousands were forced out of their homes. Eight years after the...

Thanks for the ongoing editorial series on immigration. Let me react to the second installment--on amnesty ("Limited amnesty for immigrants," Aug. 6). Unless we allow unlimited immigration we will still have to enforce whatever limits we establish. Yet we have not shown the will to enforce limits because we really want to have the influx of new workers with talents available at a good price. Illegal immigrants are lawbreakers, criminals. We have not been sufficiently willing to punish them with...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Edward Snowden and reporter Glenn Greenwald, who brought to light the whistleblower's leaks about mass U.S. government surveillance last year, appeared together via video link from opposite ends of the earth on Saturday for what was believed to be the first time since Snowden sought asylum in Russia. A sympathetic crowd of nearly 1,000 packed a downtown Chicago hotel ballroom at Amnesty International USA's annual human rights...

Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins is owed nearly $19 million over the next two seasons, but the team has no plans to amnesty him. The NBA's collective bargaining agreement that was agreed on in 2011 allows teams to release one player without his salary counting against the cap. The Thunder have not yet used the one-time provision. Even though Perkins may seem like a solid candidate after averaging just 4.2 points and six rebounds per game this season, the Thunder indicated...

Natalie Bauer Communications Director Office of Attorney General Lisa Madigan 312-814-4947 (direct) 312-636-5691 (cell) @natalie_bauer During its annual meeting this week in Chicago, Amnesty International is set to decide whether it should endorse a policy to legalize the purchase of sex. It is a sad, ironic twist for an advocacy organization renowned for preserving human rights around the world. Supporters of the policy change...

The Sports Xchange Lakers respond to Cuban's 'amnesty Bryant' comment The Los Angeles Lakers were not pleased that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that the Lakers should amnesty Kobe Bryant at the end of the season. "We're aware of Mark Cuban's comments and feel they are inappropriate," Lakers spokesman John Black said in a statement. "As to the issue itself, we will not comment publicly on the amnesty issue as it relates to any of our players. " The...

Perhaps you still feel guilty about swiping that towel from the Drake Hotel a decade ago. Or maybe the shame of pinching a custom silver vase still gnaws at you 40 years later. Either way, the Drake wants to absolve you of your sins. After nearly a century of guests pilfering silver, artwork and other expensive items, the Magnificent Mile hotel is offering amnesty to anyone who returns the lifted goods. “Over the years, we have had a lot of valuable items go...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has jailed for 18 months a man who tried to stage a repeat of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest, rights group Amnesty International said on Monday, in another sign of the ruling Communist Party's intolerance of dissent. Public discussion of the Tiananmen crackdown, in which rights groups say hundreds were probably killed, is still taboo in China. Gu Yimin applied last May for permission to demonstrate on June 4, the...

DOHA (Reuters) - Amnesty International is calling on world soccer's governing body FIFA to address the issue of migrant workers' abuse in Qatar during its meeting later this month, the rights group said in a statement on Wednesday. Pressure on Qatar, which is hosting the 2022 soccer World Cup, increased after a report in Britain's Guardian newspaper in September found that dozens of Nepali construction workers had died and that labourers were not given enough food and...